At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, there were a lot of business start-ups in different industries, despite massive job losses and closures of tens of thousands of commercial establishments across the US.

Beginning mid-March and until May 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that there have been over 500,000 employer identification number applications. The startling fact about it was that a year earlier, the same number of applications was down by close to 20 percent.

Fast forward to 2021 and we’re still seeing determined entrepreneurs who are braving the COVID-19 storm and opening up new businesses on their own or through franchising. But regardless of how they jumpstart their venture into the business realm, these budding entrepreneurs are banking big on a select niche of businesses that have proven to be financially viable.

Here are five pandemic-centered business opportunities that you should explore soon:

Lawn care/home gardening

Last year and until today, the home gardening and lawn care industry made huge strides in terms of popularity and profits, particularly in the US. With many homeowners across the country still extremely wary about leaving their homes too often to engage in leisure activities to keep themselves busy, they turn to relatively safe engagements such as tending to their gardens at home.

Additionally, as businesses begin to reopen and welcome customers, those with landscaped areas turn to commercial landscapers to revitalize their idle lawns to make them attractive once more to their clients, both old and new.

With his, you should explore the idea of getting a residential or commercial lawn treatment franchise or a small home gardening supply business. Both of these businesses have proven to be resilient against the ill effects of the pandemic on businesses, so they remain excellent options for 2021.

Delivery/errand services

Businesses that have to do with running errands for clients or taking care of deliveries were huge back in 2020 and this year (or beyond), they will most probably remain viable given the increased familiarity and dependence of people with such services.

As such, you should include delivery and errand services in your list for consideration this year. These businesses are relatively easy to set up since you only need a well-maintained vehicle, a few deliver crew, plus mobile or cashless options for payments and billing.

You can start operations in less than a week if you already have several of these essential requirements. You’ll only need a relatively small capital to begin this business, so it should be among your top options.

Online business/e-commerce

The pandemic made an already fledgling industry grow even bigger — the online selling or e-commerce business. Aside from the big players such as Amazon and eBay, small- and medium-scale businesses joined in the fray and made profits for themselves during the onset of the pandemic.

The massive lockdowns and stay-at-home orders from the government forced people to buy essential items from online stores and have them delivered to their homes. Even as restrictions on travel and leisure activities have gradually eased in many areas across the US, there are still a lot of Americans who choose to be on the safe side or have decided that it’s far more convenient to buy from online stores instead of physical stores.

Judging from the sustained brisk sales of countless e-commerce websites, there’s no indicator right now that such a trend would cease anytime soon. If anything, people would most likely continue patronizing online sellers since it’s safer, more economical, and highly convenient to do so.

Remote fitness

Home quarantined Americans who wanted to stay fit amid the crisis chose to continue their physical regimen online, thus the rise in popularity of remote fitness.

As gyms closed down temporarily (some permanently), health buffs got their regular dose of exercises by imitating the movements of fitness instructors through Zoom, Skype, and other teleconferencing platforms. Others meditate with their yoga instructors using similar means, while many practice their dance moves with the guidance of Zumba and dance instructors.

Just like other trends that started last year, remote fitness is most likely here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Remote work

Remote work, which is already a strong industry pre-pandemic, only grew even stronger during the pandemic as many workers were laid off or furloughed and as companies shifted to distance work.

If you have any kind of skills that you can offer online, then a remote work career or business is yet another excellent option to try out this year. It can be home tuition, freelance writing, bookkeeping, or any other type of skilled service.

With a stable internet connection, an internet-capable device, a noise-canceling headset, and your skills, you can begin offering your services to millions of interested clients.

Truly, the pandemic highlighted some business opportunities for business-savvy individuals to explore. Which of these options do you find most interesting? Please leave a comment below.